Mid-Week Libation: It's Wine O'Clock!
Remembering James Earl Jones & artist Louisiane Saint Fleurant, plus Julie Andrews in drag, wisdom from Walt Whitman, and a beautiful Greek red wine to pair with our bluesy "Wine O'Clock" playlist!
Mid-Week Libation is our weekly curated splash of inspiration and culture!
Remembering James Earl Jones (January 17, 1931 – September 9, 2024)
As the world mourns one of the greatest actors of all time, we wanted to share some beautiful examples of James Earl Jones reading & performing great works of literature, from Frederick Douglass to Shakespeare to Edgar Allan Poe:
James Earl Jones Obituary (via The Guardian)
James Earl Jones was Movie Royalty, a Magisterial Star Who Inspired Both Love and Respect (via The Guardian)
James Earl Jones: A Life in Pictures (via The Guardian)
It’s Wine O’Clock! Time for R&R’s Newest Playlist! (Featuring Music by Shemekia Copeland, Ruthie Foster, Judith Hill, Lizz Wright, Lady Blackbird, Yola & More!)
And here’s the eponymous first track (our favorite new song!):
Wildstar’s Wednesday Wine Pick: Gaia Estate Agiorgitiko (Nemea, Greece)
“At the top of the steep Southwestern slopes of Koutsi, we cultivate our Agiorgitiko vines with an eye towards the creation of a red wine of exceptional personality and great aging potential, aiming to take all the compounds needed from a very small amount of grapes. … Gaia Estate has a deep red-black color, complex and high intense aromatic profile with sides elements of fruit, wood, vanilla and carnation. Mouth filling, volume, body, structure and flavor complement the character of this unusual Nemea.” [Source]
Celebrating the Centenary of Haitian Artist & Founder of the Saint Soleil Movement: Louisiane Saint Fleurant! (September 11, 1924 – June 1, 2005)
Louisiane Saint-Fleurant at AWARE: Archives of Women Artists, Research & Exhibitions / Works for Sale (via Artsy)
Drag Performance of the Week: Julie Andrews as Victoria playing Victor playing Victoria in “The Shady Dame From Seville” from Victoria/Victoria (1982)
The Unabashedly Queer Musical That Turned the Genre on Its Head (via Criterion)
Interesting Artists Born Today: September 11th
Visual Artists:
Today is the birthday of Nicolai Abildgaard, Thomas Hill, Georges Clairin, Hippolyte Petitjean, Gabrielle de Veaux Clements, Kume Keiichiro, Hermenegildo Anglada Camarasa, Ruby Levick, Mabel May, José Cuneo Perinetti, Friedrich Schröder Sonnenstern, Jean Varda, Clarence Schmidt, Daniel Brustlein, Eileen Mayo, John McCrady, Harrison McIntosh, Michael Kidner, Guillermo Meza, Daphne Odjig, Lenton Parr, Louisiane Saint Fleurant, Burhan Doğançay, Jean-Claude Forest, Moshe Gershuni, Ciel Bergman, Liliane de Cock, Vitaly Komar, Terry Rodgers, Di Stovall, Shahabuddin Ahmed, Rex Ray, Šarūnas Sauka, János Saxon-Szász, Stefano Cagol, Oree Originol and Elias Tahan!
Writers, Philosophers & Scholars:
Today is the birthday of Pierre de Ronsard, Elizabeth Singer Rowe, Joanna Baillie, Fitz Hugh Ludlow, O. Henry, Marc-André Raffalovich, D. H. Lawrence, Vinoba Bhave, Theodor W. Adorno, Jessica Mitford, Christine King Farris, Miguel Algarín, Minnijean Brown-Trickey, James McBride, Andre Dubus III and Samina Raja!
Musicians & Composers:
Today is the birthday of Friedrich Kuhlau, Herbert Stothart, Barbecue Bob, Jazz Gillum, Bola de Nieve, Margaret Tynes, Alan Bergman, Harry Somers, Baby Face Willette, Oliver Jones, Arvo Pärt, Gerome Ragni, Robert “Wolfman” Belfour, Mickey Hart, Paul Riser, John Martyn, Hiram Bullock, Jon Moss, Annie Gosfield, Victoria Poleva, Victor Wooten, Moby, Harry Connick Jr. and Ludacris!
Film/TV/Stage:
Today is the birthday of Pinto Colvig, Herbert Lom, Earl Holliman, Cathryn Damon, Tom Dreesen, Brian De Palma, Lola Falana, Maria Novaro, Tony Gilroy, Adriane Lenox, Roxann Dawson, Kristy McNichol, Paul Mayeda Berges, Bertrand Bonello, Taraji P. Henson, Ginger Minj, Tyler Hoechlin, Michael J. Willett and Farrah Moan!
This Week’s Words of Wisdom: Walt Whitman (1819 - 1892)
O Me! O Life! by Walt Whitman Oh me! Oh life! of the questions of these recurring, Of the endless trains of the faithless, of cities fill’d with the foolish, Of myself forever reproaching myself, (for who more foolish than I, and who more faithless?) Of eyes that vainly crave the light, of the objects mean, of the struggle ever renew’d, Of the poor results of all, of the plodding and sordid crowds I see around me, Of the empty and useless years of the rest, with the rest me intertwined, The question, O me! so sad, recurring—What good amid these, O me, O life? Answer. That you are here—that life exists and identity, That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse.
A real kick in the head about James Earl Jones when I first saw the obituary. (sigh)